The challenge is now closed. Congratulations to the winners, and thanks to everyone who participated. There were four entries that qualified:

Treadmill103 - Narwhal

• First run: 516 to 1002 feet, delta h = 486 feet
• Second run: 358 to 1624 feet, delta h = 1266 feet
• Third run: 411 to 1251 feet, delta h = 840 feet

Video

Third prize: amazingperson124 - Level Flight Challenge

• First run: 154 to 536 feet, delta h = 382 feet
• Second run: 207 to 556 feet, delta h = 349 feet
• Third run: 140 to 485 feet, delta h = 345 feet

Video

Second prize: SSSvaSSa - Level Level Flight Entry

• First run: 283 to 607 feet, delta h = 324 feet
• Second run: 308 to 687 feet, delta h = 379 feet
• Third run: 203 to 406 feet, delta h = 203 feet

Video

First prize: JoeCFX - Flare X-2

• First run: 166 to 191 feet, delta h = 25 feet
• Second run: 190 to 204 feet, delta h = 14 feet
• Third run: 213 to 230 feet, delta h = 17 feet

Video

How to claim your prize

I'll pay out the prizes as either Steam or Amazon gift cards. To give me your Steam ID or email address for Amazon, create an unlisted post, and tag me on it. Do not post anything other than either your Steam ID or e-mail address. I'll let you know when I've saved the info, and you can then delete the post.

I'll send out the prizes as soon as I get your details.

Note that I will only use your contact information once, to send you the money. If you get emails or any other communication purporting to be from me -- it's not from me.

Update:

I've released a parts kit here. These are the same parts that I use for my builds.

First prize: $30

Second prize: $20

Third prize: $10

All prizes are in USD, and will be paid out as Amazon gift cards or Steam gift cards.

Testing procedure

• The aircraft will be spawned at the default Wright Airport location.
• Throttle will be pushed to 100% and upwards pitch applied when rotation speed is reached.
• Immediately after takeoff, gear (if available) will be retracted, and the aircraft will be pointed at the destroyer to port (left) of the Beast.
• As soon as it's pointed directly at the destroyer and at an altitude of around 200 feet, autopilot[1] will be engaged.
• As soon as it passes the destroyer, autopilot will be disengaged, making a note of the exact altitude. No controls will be touched after this point.
• Ideally, the aircraft will keep flying straight and level until it impacts Krakabloa.
• Just before it impacts Krakabloa, the altitude will be noted again.
• Three test runs will be conducted for each aircraft. The one with the smallest change in altitude will be used in judging.
• The aircraft with the least difference in altitude (whether positive or negative) wins.

Rules

• Entries must be a successor to this post.
• Entries must be your own creation.
• One entry per participant.
• Any and all XML modding is permitted.
• The appearance of the aircraft has no effect on judging.
• Landing gear is optional and has no effect on judging.
• The aircraft must be able to take off normally from the default Wright Airport spawn location.
• The aircraft must fly like an aircraft: using engines that thrust backwards only, wings and control surfaces. For instance, a ballistic vehicle using detachers isn't permitted. Neither is one using a "spaceship" or "2D" flight model.
• Gyroscopes are not permitted.
• No activation groups are permitted. The aircraft needs to complete the test using just throttle, pitch, yaw, and roll controls, nothing else.
• Throttle, pitch, yaw, and roll must work as expected.
• The aircraft must be controllable using a keyboard.
• The engine(s) must be controlled using the throttle. For instance, you cannot use the LandingGear input to control the engine(s).
• The aircraft's part count must be between 100 and 400.
• The aircraft's length must be between 50 and 300 feet.
• The aircraft's speed at full throttle must be between 1500 and 2000 mph.
• The aircraft's mass must be between 10,000 and 1,000,000 pounds.
• All entries must have a crosshair, default or custom. This is to enable pointing the aircraft precisely at the destroyer.
• Aircraft that veer off the path and fail to hit Krakabloa will be disqualified.
• Aircraft that touch the water at any time after autopilot is disengaged and before impacting Krakabloa will be disqualified.
• The impact point will be determined by the aircraft itself; so an aircraft that gains too much altitude and hits the island later as a result will do worse than one that gains less altitude and therefore hits the island sooner.
• The handling of the aircraft will determine how precisely I'm able to aim it at the destroyer. I'll do my best, but a better-handling aircraft will have a better chance than a poorly-handling one.
• Aircraft that don't handle well enough to be able to reach approximately 200 ft altitude and engage autopilot before crossing the fleet will be disqualified.
• Videos will be recorded of all aircraft that display an altitude change of less than 3000 feet, and uploaded to my YouTube account so that everyone can see the test results.
• The test will be done on my PC, so if for some reason an aircraft behaves differently on my PC than on someone's device, the performance on my PC will be the deciding factor.
• Anyone who doesn't trust me to run the challenge fairly should not enter. By entering the challenge, you agree that you trust my judgment and good faith. If you don't, do not participate.
• After submitting an entry, any accusations of unfairness on my part will immediately disqualify the participant. For instance, if someone claims I touched the controls after disengaging autopilot, or modified an entry, their entry will be disqualified and the person responsible will be blocked.

The deadline for submitting entries is midnight, GMT, on February 13th, 2018.

1. For those who don't know, autopilot is a feature on the PC (and probably Mac) version of SimplePlanes that keeps the aircraft flying level.